


to the surface

by sciintiilla



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Depression, Gen, Loneliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:08:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22756801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sciintiilla/pseuds/sciintiilla
Summary: loneliness can't be cured by company of whom you cannot even comprehend. Terres had the misfortune of a spirit drawn by his misery, only for it to latch onto him in desperation to be whole... and create a whole new entity of issues.





	1. just the surface

**Author's Note:**

> this was a whole series of events that led to another character's creation. i wrote one drabble to accompany the beginning of it all, and another when this new character finally surfaced.

He was alone.   
  
A soul, a spirit of a man who no longer remembered who he was. He died long ago, with nothing but loneliness in his heart - and, though he cannot recall anything that contributed to such a feeling, it was the only thing he knew how to experience in this ghostly existence.    
  
For years and years and years, he wandered, tied to nobody and nowhere. He wandered, miserable in his entirety and unable to fill the void of sadness in his heart. He wandered, the only wish that his weakened spirit could possibly hope for was someone to fill that void. To become someone again.   
  
He wandered… until one day he stumbled across a man.

* * *

He sat upon the edge of the cliff, the breeze carried by the ocean streaming through his sandy hair. Terres let out a silent sigh, drawn out to be masked as simply a breath exhaled. He would watch the waves find their way to the bank, tracing the currents with his minted eyes, a brief wonder if they would be able to carry him to an unknown destination of relief.    
  
His memories had been unkind to him lately. With so many issues arising, there had been plenty of moments that reminded him a little too vividly of his past. With problems of kidnappings, of torture, of becoming too bitter to have faith in any humanity… it was becoming too much. But that wasn’t something he wanted to admit. He had to be strong for those he cared about. He had no time to dwell on these… unimportant things.    
  
Truth be told, he was always dwelling on something, whether he noticed or not… these thoughts and memories were always fresh on his mind.    
  
He would never escape his past.

* * *

He could tell this man shouldered many burdens, just by the way his shoulders slumped.  He carried his sadness like a torch - a torch that barely held onto its dying flame as if its  life depended on it, dampened by the rain of melancholy.    
  
He approached the man, but the man could not see him. And yet… he was enthralled. He wanted to be closer, closer. Even closer, still…   
  
The nameless spirit latched onto the man, entwining with his very being, searching, craving. He wanted to be something again, something whole.    
  
The man had memories that he could learn, that he could love… that he could become.

* * *

Terres felt a brief warmth surround him, never noticing the little wisp that entered his own soul. For a moment, he felt as if someone was there, as if someone was with him… but it was only for a moment. Then it was gone, and he was with himself again.   
  
He was alone.


	2. darkness, darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the world is empty. the dream is insatiable.

There was nothing. 

He could see nothing. Hear nothing. Feel nothing. 

It was simply darkness, darkness.

He wondered what had happened to the world. Where did it go? Why did everyone disappear? 

But then he remembered himself. He was undeserving of them. Of the universe. 

It was better off without him.

He belonged inside this void, where he could harm none.

He was unsure of how he came here, but there was no point in struggling to get out.

Yet, there was no sadness from the thought. No comfort. No pain.

Only endless darkness.

* * *

Ethizo took a deep breath of the fresh, ripened air, peering down at the distant streets of Kugane. He only had a short amount of time before his “other self” realized that it wouldn’t take much thought to break out of the emptiness of himself and regain control, so better make sure to have as much fun as he could before it was too late.

There was a cruel, wicked smile upon his face - one that could only speak of murder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for some background, Ethizo was the name that Terres went by during his time as a pirate— he did horrible thing during that time, killing innocent people in cruel ways for his amusement. it was all just to fill a void in his chest, until one day the toll of too many deaths weighed upon too heavily. Terres has since accepted retribution, but given a second chance, and he holds onto these memories to remind him to be a better person... but the spirit that latched itself upon him took up these potent memories as its own. And so he became possessed by his former self. This second drabble depicts Terres entering an isolated mindset and Ethizo taking full advantage of it.
> 
> ... Later on, after Terres was captured and experimented on by an Ul'dahn noble with a grudge against him, Ethizo was given his own body.


End file.
